DSP Architectures frequency-domain chip chosen by NASA

AUGUST 29--DSP Architectures (Vancouver, WA; www.dsp24.com) has begun volume production of the DSP24, a signal processor optimized for the frequency domain. The DSP24 has been selected by NASA to be used in its high-profile New Millennium Program. The radiation-hardened RHDSP24 will be incorporated into the Honeywell radiation-hardened vector processor, set to launch in 2005 as part of NASA's Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GIFTS), which will test new technologies for measuring temperature, water vapor, wind, and chemical composition of the atmosphere.

The DSP24 performs a 24-bit complex multiply in 10 ns and a 24-bit complex 1K fast Fourier transform in 22 μs. Its architecture lends itself to massively parallel systems to achieve almost unlimited performance. The chip's architecture has evolved over a decade, being the most recent in a line of transform-based processors with roots at TRW, Honeywell, and Sharp.

The DSP24 is supported at the board- and software-design level by Valley Technologies Inc. (www.valleytech.com), which recently announced the VT-5520 CompactPCI Vector Signal Processor. The VT-5520 is the first offering generated from a strategic partnership between Valley Technologies and Honeywell to create hardware and software products for satellite-based payload processing electronics. Valley Technologies has added software support, a programming language, a compiler and a simulator to its vector signal processing software development suite, called VectorWare.